‘I’ve covered Man Utd for 25 years and feel sorry for Amorim’

It was great to see the admiration and warmth towards Ruben Amorim as he said goodbye in his last home game as manager of Sporting Lisbon.

And yet, despite that stunning 4-1 win over Manchester City, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

At Sporting he has achieved incredible success with two Portuguese Primeira Liga titles, the first of which ended a 19-year title drought.

Understandably, he is adored by the fans even if they knew he was leaving and there is a clear bond between him and the players. He looked like a man who was genuinely content and happy with his life in Lisbon.

“Don't do it Ruben, stay where you are.” . . but it was too late.

Amorim had already chosen to throw himself into the managerial meat grinder known as modern-day Manchester United.

He only has to look at the disgraceful treatment of his immediate predecessor to know what he is getting into.

There was something very unsavory about the way Amorim was welcomed to United with all the posts on the club's social media.

It was as if he had arrived as a great liberator to bring the club into the light after a dark time.

Erik ten Hag was a good man. One of the best I've met in my 25 years as a reporter for the Red Devils.

He did everything he could to lift that club back up, winning two trophies and reaching a final along the way in his two full seasons.

Yet it was clear that the new broom swept through Old Trafford by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe would take the Dutchman with it.

Even after that so-called vote of confidence in him over the summer, after everyone else trying to get the job done ran another mile.

He was always staring at the exit door at a time when 250 employees have been brutally dismissed, against a backdrop of budget cuts that are gradually ripping away a little more of the soul of this great club.

No matter how good he is, the team is bad and Ten Hag must take a large part of the responsibility for that. Although he never wanted Ineos signing Joshua Zirkzee, and we can see why.

If Amorim can make a tune out of this, he will be the Ludwig van Beethoven of football.

All the while, he will have to deal with everything that comes with being United boss.

A club that could no longer meet expectations when Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013.

Amorim has since become the sixth permanent boss. They all arrive with a smile and believe they can be “the one”.

They all leave with their reputations in the trash and their lives changed.

Ten Hag still has to process what happened. I'm not sure David Moyes ever will.

Even baby-faced killer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked so old by the end.

Sometimes, when you find fulfillment in your life – and find a job you love with people around you who love you – you have truly reached the pinnacle.

Amorim had that. And I bet in two years he'll wish he never turned his back on it.

Littler is a star I can identify with

IT is often difficult to empathize with the incredible achievements of athletes.

That's what fascinates us most: how on earth do they do that?

Then you learn about the sacrifices they make for years for that one moment.

How they even struggle to let themselves go after all the hard work when they retire.

Then you hear about Luke Littler.

He has just become the darts world's youngest millionaire at the age of 17 and whose in-match routine was revealed by Martin Lukeman, who he defeated 16-3 in the Grand Slam of Darts final.

'He had a curry, a Boost [chocolate bar]a meal deal and those little sweets, half pink and half white. . . Pumpkins. Then he walks over there and beats me up like that.'

Beautiful.

Jimmy leads a dry life

THE MODERN snooker player is a world away from the icons we loved to watch in the 80s and early 90s.

Gym, water, diet, sleep. The best, Ronnie O'Sullivan, is a good example of this with his running.

That reminded me of how Jimmy White enjoyed his free time.

At his peak, White once went to the Gresham Hotel in Dublin for a weekend and returned six weeks later.

He had 24 bottles of Dom Perignon champagne sent to his room daily and was reportedly joined by “nightclub girls, UB40 and Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy” for what was described as “the mother of all benders”.

When Alex Higgins stepped up to join in, it's fair to say things stepped up a notch.

But on the weekend just gone, the now clean “Whirlwind”, aged 62, defeated an opponent 42 years his junior in the UK Champs qualifiers – more than four decades after reaching the semi-finals on his debut had achieved.

Sober, fit and healthy Wit is still participating. He may never have been world champion, but he remains a champion of the sport.

Europe doesn't crown for Nick-ing

Hats off, or rather hats and visors, to Rory McIlroy.

His stunning finish to claim the DP World Tour Championship meant he topped the field for the sixth time in the Race to Dubai.

That equaled Seve Ballesteros' performance and leaves him two behind Colin Montgomerie's record.

McIlroy has his sights set on becoming the greatest European golfer of all time, although some already consider him that.

His four Majors to Ballesteros' five and Nick Faldo's six suggest this is not the case. But for me, Faldo's moment of distinction was the 1995 Ryder Cup.

It was all thanks to his match as Sunday's singles came to an end and he was down one by three to play Curtis Strange.

Level down 18, his presence of mind to clear the rough and give himself the perfect wedge to get up and down to claim par and win as Strange melted is the greatest moment in Ryder Cup history .

Watch it and marvel at the man's powers to block out all the noise and pressure to get the job done.